Andrea Perez-Sobers
As the 2024 cruise ship season comes to a close on April 17, both Trinidad and Tobago have seen 42 increase in passenger arrivals, with an estimated 198,408 tourists, compared to the 2022/2023 cruise season, which saw 139,776 passengers.
Cruise line agent, Charles Carvalho, in an interview with the Business Guardian on Monday, explained how the increase in arrivals was achieved.
Carvalho said before COVID-19, the cruise lines were on a drive to add new destinations and at a Florida Caribbean Cruise Conference held in Mexico, last year, several meetings were scheduled with Presidents and CEOs of Cruise Lines where the Minister of Tourism was in attendance.
“We were able to convince them at those meetings to add those increased calls to T&T. Fortunately, the ships the cruise lines used to add T & T are all within what we could accommodate, which was in our favour. There were also 103 port calls thus far,” he said.
On whether new cruise lines would be docking for the new season, which is expected to begin either in October/November, Carvalho said his agency has been in discussions with MSC Cruises to add more calls to Trinidad. He hopes to meet with them at the SeaTrade Global in Miami shortly to see how best those calls can be finalised.
He highlighted that MSC also has a new Cruise Brand called MSC Journeys, and this country has already been added to those calls.
Another area of development, he indicated, is having Trinidad become a homeport for cruise lines.
“We hope this will open up new Southern Caribbean itineraries.”
In addition, he noted the agency will be speaking with Royal Caribbean to see how it can add more calls to T&T based on the last two successful seasons with the Rhapsody of the Seas and the Jewel of the Seas.
On helping boost the industry, he said the Tourism Ministry and Tourism Trinidad Ltd (TTL) has given support at international cruise conferences and provided entertainment when the passengers disembark the cruise ships, to head to their various tours, along with the City Ambassadors programme, something that was implemented in Trinidad.
Asked what the income from the various tours for T&T was, Carvalho said that the figures could not be disclosed, but stated there was a 75-80 per cent increase.
Questioned on some of the challenges experienced during the current season and how these can be rectified by the next season, Carvalho said: “We encountered that most service providers were not ready for the growth of the business. This country needs to look more closely at our service fees to be able to compete with other Caribbean destinations. We need to understand that we are the last island in the Caribbean chain and that by itself is uncompetitive. So we need to look at our service costs to be competitive.”
There have been calls from several quarters to get rid of the tedious cruise line pre-arrival documents, which must be submitted to the authorities. The veteran agent said T&T needs to make use of the electronic transfer of documents that his agency provides in advance. Certain authorities still insist on printed copies, which he recommended must change.
Transportation issue
Last November, when the cruise season opened, 300 tourists on board the inaugural arrival of the Celebrity Silhouette in Scarborough were left disappointed as their tours were cancelled, due to the non-arrival of maxi-taxis.
Questioned on how this can be prevented for the new season, the cruise agent said while it was a one-off situation, it can recur if there is not adequate available transportation.
“We need to move away from the current mode of transport if we are serious about building the industry. This goes for Trinidad as well. The Port Authority must allow for easier transportation access to enter the Port to service the industry. Many Caribbean islands have moved away from what we still do here,” he urged.
As it pertains to the importance of marketing Trinidad and Tobago as the same destinatio, Carvalho stressed there is no
need to market the nation as two separate destinations.
“This is a destination called Trinidad and Tobago. When we go to the cruise industry and we speak numbers, we only speak about Trinidad or Tobago. The cruise industry likes to hear numbers; collectively, we can make a difference when we speak numbers, not just Trinidad or Tobago numbers,” he detailed.
Concerning the robbery of a Canadian tourist in Port-of-Spain after disembarking the cruise ship, Carvalho said that only one was reported for the season. He assured the T&T police service has implemented safety and security measures for the arrival of cruise ship passengers.
In terms of making headway with talks on expanding the docking facility at the Port of Port-of-Spain, the cruise line agent said the authorities need to move faster to develop those new facilities, as cruise lines will not wait.
“The cruise line decides where to take their ships three years in advance.”
He said the cruise industry is much larger than people believe, as it employs thousands of individuals, as it is a people-oriented business.
India government policies
The Seatrade Cruise News website noted recently that the Indian government has introduced cruise-friendly policy initiatives which include cabotage relaxation, e-visa facility, guaranteed berthing, volume discounts, single e-landing cards and uniform operating procedures for customs and immigration at Indian ports.
The website also indicated that India has enhanced its focus on cruising with government departments responsible for tourism, ports and shipping actively promoting cruise arrivals for its economic impact, the potential for job creation, for earning foreign exchange and other benefits.
It added seven cruise ports have been identified for upgrading of cruise facilities, with terminals at New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai and Visakhapatnam already completed, and in Mumbai and Mormugao, terminal upgrades are expected to be commissioned in 2024-2025.